After six weeks in Sanibel, I set sail for an interim stint in Longboat Key, a port that facilitated access to nearby Sarasota with its surfeit of modernist architect Paul Rudolph houses, Tampa and St. Pete. Several days after my return, I visited Louisville, Kentucky to round out the adventure. Kentucky in late March poses a posie respite for floral freaks like me.


Sarasota:

In contrast to hurricane-toppled Sanibel, Sarasota and vicinity are super manicured. Sarasota's architecture reminded me of Los Angeles, plus its city center was a dead ringer for Beverly Hills. While Sarasota plays out its sleek Hollywood persona in spades, I never actually encountered any players. Endemic of this community's filmworld sensibility, the local Burns Court Theater hosts the Sarasota Film Society, which screens several fascinating film festivals each year.
Sue Spaid on 03.28.05 @ 08:20 AM EST [more..]

This seat is now vacant

Between this blog and the last I arrived for my shift at the gallery I’m supposedly directing to discover that the exhibition had been partially taken down ahead of time and replaced by the usual assortment of chocolate-box-cover type works the enclavian artists habitually grace us with [I must say in all fairness that big sales were not forthcoming, BUT visits had risen substantially and I felt it was only a matter of time… but go say that to the potato vendor (I mean no offence to the hard working people of vegetable markets!)].

Jose Freitas Cruz on 03.25.05 @ 08:46 AM EST [more..]

NYC 3

I’ve been in New York for a month and a half or so and I’m getting used to the subway, the crowds and my neighborhood. I think you should consider yourself a resident if you’ve done your laundry at least 3 or 4 times in a place. I’ve been here long enough to begin to reflect on my experiences a little. This is something that usually takes me a while and I need a little distance as I tend to suspend judgement on a place until I’ve had a time to sift through my own biases.

Walter King on 03.23.05 @ 09:35 AM EST [more..]

Speaking of the work selection processes in Arad 2005

In search of many points of view and of debate in terms of the basis and the practice of net “collective curatory”, at certain degree unknown, that is used in the Biennial of Contemporary Art “Arad 2005”. As follows there are some approaches related to the work selection process.

Introduction

In the life history of any contemporary creator, post-creative moments arise, where the bursting of his/her work –when looking for its exhibition, the granting of an award, honor or its direct sale- takes risks, being subdued or conditioned by the game of power between value judgment and the circumstances and beliefs that are to a certain point arbitrary, coming from the social environment that is unequally globalized.

Armando Caceda on 03.20.05 @ 09:02 PM EST [more..]

Who is Aros - who is Bill...

Yesterday I visited Aros.
Who is Aros?
What is Aros?
An operating system to an Amiga computer?
The best of Scottish Music, Books, Culture and Heritage?
A golf club in Västerås in Sweden?
An Amsterdam based sextet playing rhythmically compelling blend of jazz, classical and new music ideas?
A Danish insurance company?
Or?
Yes, all of the above.
But.
Aros is also the ancient name of the capital of a peninsula called Jutland, which is a province of Denmark.
Today the city is called Aarhus.
And Aros is an art museum.
I live near by.
According to the chairman of the board, Neil Kzokoss, Chicago Athenaeum, Museum of Architecture and Design, who visited me once, my house is located "in the middle of nowhere".

Well, your expectations to an art museum in the middle of nowhere in a province of Denmark might not be high.
However - stay tuned.

Asbjorn Lonvig on 03.18.05 @ 04:05 AM EST [more..]

A Thank You Note To Artists

Dear Artists,

I truly wish that I could talk with all of you individually, but
unfortunately, that's humanly impossible.

So, here are some words that I've been wanting to say.

Because of you, my house is a home and my home is my castle. It's a place
where art envelops me. It's often a challenge to leave it. Art lives and
rules in my home. It's a place of great humanity and soaring spirit. A
place where color, hue and texture wander. Eternity captured in an
inexplicable way.

Michael Corbin on 03.15.05 @ 09:34 PM EST [more..]

The Digitalist Goes Wild!

The evolution of an artist in the past was dictated by the periods of art he/she created. For instance there was Picasso's "Blue Period" and Man Rays "Ray-o-grams." Periods are also measured by the times an artist spends in a particular place.

With the advent of jet airplanes, Federal Express and email, we live our lives around the world in an instant. One can write a letter here, get a video clip there. It has become ONE
WORLD under the "Golden Arches." (And I'm not talking Christo's GATES either.) Due to technology and fast food restaurants, our communications bring us closer together. Every Starbucks on earth these days has wireless Internet so you can have your $2.00 burnt coffee and surf the Internet at the very same time. With all that wireless connection around me I preferred to actually LIVE LIFE instead.

Laurence Gartel on 03.13.05 @ 10:39 PM EST [more..]

Immortality and Art

Dear Dr. Newton,

With all due respect for your genius and hypnotherapy research into the spiritual world, I write this open letter of appreciation as an artist, having spent a lifetime with the conflict (and criticism) of juggling roles and jobs in life. Your books, "Journey of Souls" (1994) and "Destiny of Souls" (2004) help elucidate for myself what my life has been about and assist in clarifying my future direction in life. I now don't feel like a "lost soul" but have identified my mission in life in the here and NOW. God willing, I shall build a museum for the digital arts, with emphasis on the Web-based type, to round out my art career. "Build it and they shall come" will be the motto hung front and center at this imminent brick n' mortar institution envisioned to be located somewhere in America.


Pygoya on 03.11.05 @ 11:55 AM EST [more..]

Freedom of Choice

Last week I visited an artist. We sat in his spacious studio – a beautiful place wholly set up for artistic and highly intellectual lifestyle. We looked at his work. Then he uncovered the latest – large format canvasses. Though originally trained in painting and visual arts, once, in a strange turn of fate he tried his hand in pottery and ceramics. He loved it so much that he devoted next 20 years to it producing work of incredible quality. He constantly experimented with the knowledge gained, learned more and taught others. Until one day he rediscovered oils and canvases again.
Ausra Larbey on 03.08.05 @ 09:54 PM EST [more..]

And the Cheshire Cat smiled…

Apart from a few reactions to other blogs and comments, I realise I haven’t contributed so far with much food for thought. Somehow the enclave is not the most conducive environment for higher thoughts and the few that find their way into my little black note-books for future digestion I am weary to share with you until such a time when I have returned to more favourable pastures and have been able to revise them and assessed their [my] sanity. The enclave has been more of a place for physical work and keeping busy than for deep thinking, perhaps because there is such a shortage of people to think deeply with and for [I thought for a nanosecond to introduce a footnote here but it’s really beyond hope so I’ll leave it as it is!]. I hope you don’t mind if I keep to News from the Enclave for a while longer.


Jose Freitas Cruz on 03.06.05 @ 07:32 PM EST [more..]

Seing Through Deaf Eyes

Silence is a strange phenomenon. Recently I discovered it's what I sometimes hear while in the act of painting. I normally have a radio or CD playing in my studio, but I never really hear them. I have tried and failed to remember what I was hearing or listening to while painting. Is this a common occurence among hearing artists ? Something seems to take over and other senses predominate.


John Nolan on 03.03.05 @ 09:41 PM EST [more..]

NYC 2

February 18, noon:
Finally rolled out of bed an hour ago and made it over to Steve’s to work on the net. Last night I got to meet a bunch of people at the Mark Bar. One was Tal Shpantzer, a really good photographer from Israel living in New York. She’s got an amazing ability to capture people because she makes them feel so comfortable in front of her lens. I have begun to understand why, she’s just very comfortable to be around. She’s shown in Prague and had a number of images published internationally in both Prague and Israel. She has a great web site. Below is a link to her site.


Walter King on 03.01.05 @ 10:30 PM EST [more..]